Wrench.



L. S. STARRETT.

WRENCH. 7 APPLICATION FILED AUG-2. I915- Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

LAROYJJTA/PRETT ATTORNEY LAROY S. STARRETT, F ATHOL, MASSACHUSETTS.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

Application filed August 2, 1915, Serial No. 43,106.

I particularly to a novel type of wrench designed for use in the manner of a ratchet wrench under certain eonditionsas where a nut sticks or there is insufficient room for.

an extended movement, it is necessary to open the jaws of the wrench and obtain a new purchase on the nut.

My improvement over wrenches of the usual screw or monkey wrench type consists in a device making the movable jaw practically automatic in opening or closing to adjust itself to fit a bolt head or a nut so as to relieve the necessity ofremoving the wrench to get a new hold at every partial turn of the nut or bolt must be donewith the common wrench. With a reverse movement of the wrench to take a new leverage, the movable jaw is automatically opened to pass the corners of the nut. g

In carrying out my invention, the movable jaw of the wrench is carried by a stirrup slidable alon the shank and adjusted toward and-from the fixed jaw by the usual feed screw. 7 ratcheting adjustment along the shank means of the finger pull "cooperating with a thumb operated device normally-disposed in the path of rearward movement of'the stir rup. This permits the jaws'of the wrench to be-opened and closed to take a fresh grip on the nut after the manner 0f"a"rat che't wrench" and without-losing the originaladjustment' of thejaws.

The-construction and bperation'of my device will be more fully disclosed in the speci In the drawing accompanying that specification have shown as an illustrative embodiment'a form,

fication which follows.

of my invention which has proved satis-;

factory in practice and well adapted to the requirement or manufacture. Throughout "specification and drawings like reference The stirrup is capable of a,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 i1lustrating the ratcheting operation, v

Fig; 4 is a partial rear elevation of the wrench, I

Fig. 5 i a detail section on the line 55 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 66 of Fig. i. i e

I have indicated at 1 a shank of a wrench having a handle 2 at one end and a fixed aw 3- at its opposite end. :The shank 1 has a stirrup aslidable thereon and carrying a movable jaw 5. The jaw 5 is adjustable toward and from the work 6, grasped between it and the jaw 3, by means of afeed screw 7 having aknurled head 8. The screw 7 is threaded into a threaded bore in'the stirrup 4 and when rotated by means of thehead 8 carriesthe jaw 5 toward and from the jaw 8. This gives the ordinary adjustment of the jaws.

The shank 1 has a shoulder 9 on its front face and effectively disposed to stop the for- Ward movement of the aw 5 in theratcheting adjustment of the wrench. The head of the screw 7 is normally held against rearward movement by the sides of a yoke 10 embracing the shank 1 and reciprocated'by a thumb lever 11 pivoted at 12 to a mount 13 fixed to the shank. The yoke 10 is therefore movable into and out of the ath of'the' head 8 of the screw by means of the thumb lover. The yoke and thumb lever may be connected to each other in any'manner as by hooking the forwardend 11 of the thumb lever over a pin 14: set through the upper slotted end 10 ofthe yoke,.the hooked end 11 ofthe lever being received in theslot 10 of the'fyoke. A coil'spring' 15 is wrapped about thetpivot pin .12 withits freeends interposed between the operating portion of the lever and. the shank 1... The spring 15 operates to return the yoke to original posi- I tion after each actuation thereof. j

The mount 13 has an extended bearing portion 16 through which islet a shouldered bore 17. Rcciprocable inthe bore 171$ pulljste'm 18' terminating at one end infanenlarged head 19 and. having its forward" cnd'f extended through the head 8 and fastened into a boi'ej'let into .thenrearend of the screw 7 Confined aboutthestem 18 be tween the bearing 16 andthe' head 8 is.

coiled P -P 2. c pt.ect.to:.b .co by'theiearward movement of the stem 18 and effective when the stem is released to return it and thus the jaw 5 to original position.

In using the wrench of the present nvention, the normal adjustment of the aw 5 relative to the jaw 3 is secured by rotating the screw 7 s in an ordinary wrench.

Nhere it is desired to secure a ratcheting operation, where the nut goes on hard and it is necessary to throw the jaws open in order to permit them to pass the corners of the nut, and then take a fresh grip on the nut again, the adjusting device 18 1s employed. In efiecting this, the yoke 10 1s first moved out of the path of the head 8 by means of the finger lever 11, which Is pressed down toward the handle 2 and through its connections 14 with the yoke 10 lifts the yoke. The knob 19 is then grasped by the fore finger and moved rearwardly, the finger lever 11 is held down against the handle by the thumb of the same hand. This retracts the stirrup quickly along the shank and contracts the spring 20 which automatically returns the stirrup to its original position when the stem 18 is released. Should the nut go so free as to turn back with the reverse movement of the wrench the finger grip on the head of the screw will draw the jaw back to pass the corners of the nut without turning it back. The rearward movement of the stirrup is stopped by the rear face of the head 8 contacting the bearing 16 of the mount 13. The movement of the stirrup in the opposite direction is stopped by the forward face of the head contacting the shoulder 9 on the shank 1.

This adjustment permits the wrench to be used in the manner of a ratchet wrench. The ratcheting action of the jaws on a nut is illustrated in Fig. 3.

If desired, the ordinary adjustments of the wrench may be effected by rotating the stem 18 in its bearing, whereby to rotate the screw 7. For this purpose the knob 19 of the stem may be knurled, as indicated at 21. It w1ll be observed in the ratcheting dustment of the wrench, that the head 8 travels free of the shank; This permits the l ws to be opened and closed quickly and easily. The travel of the screw is of eourse gmded y the ring 16 and by the engagement of the stirrup with the shank.

It will be noted, furthermore, that the free ends of the yoke adjacent the nut 8 are beveled slightly at 1O w f the nut Thrsenables the yoke to move back into the position of 1g. 2 after it has been raised in case the p ng 20 should not fully return the nut 8.1mm Stops against the shoulder 9. In this event, the tapered portions 10x of me y g ge the nut and force it for ward as the yoke moves down.

Various modifications in the form and :ueespsa operation of my device may obviously be resorted to, all without departing from the spirit of my invention it within the hmits of the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wrench of the class described, a shank having a jaw, a stirrup slidable on said shank and having a jaw, a feed screw for adjusting said stirrup and its aw relative to the jaw or the shank, finger pull operatively connected with said feed screw on one side of the shank to impart sliding travel thereto, a member normally disposed to prevent sliding travel of said screw in one direction, means operatively connected with said member on the opposite side of the shank for moving said member to per mit sliding travel of said screw in said direction, means for limiting the movement of said screw in either direction, and means for returning said screw and associated parts to original position.

2. In a wrench of the class described, a shank having ajaw, a stirrup slidable on said shank and having a jaw, a feed screw for adjusting said stirrup and its jaw relative to the jaw of the shank, a pull stem operatively connected with said feed screw to impart sliding travel thereto in one direction, a yoke embracing said shank and normally disposed to contact with said screw and prevent said sliding travel, a thumb lever operatively connected with said yoke for moving said yoke transversely to the line of movement of said screw to permit Said sliding travel, means for limiting the movement of saidgerew in veither direction, and means for imparting sliding t l to said screw in the opposite direction.-

3. In a wrench of the class described, a shank, a fixed and a movable jaw, means for adjusting said jaws relative to each other, means operated at one side of said shank for imparting ratcheting movement to said movable jaw, and means operated at the other side of said shank and arranged opposite to said movement imparting means and normally disposed to prevent ratcheting movement of said movable jaw, and permltting said movements when actuated.

4. In a wrench of the class described, a shank, a fixed and a movable jaw, rotative means for initially adjusting said jaws relative to each other, a pull member and a spring for imparting sliding travel to said movable jaw, and a thumb lever and a slid able device normally disposed to prevent said. sliding travel and permitting said travel when actuated.

In a Wrench of the class described, a shank, a fixed and a movable jaw, means for j ng said jaws relative to each other, means normally effective to prevent movement of said ponvable jaw beyond a predetermined point in one direction, and permitting said movements when actuated, a thumb operated device for said means, and an oppositely disposed finger pull for imparting ratcheting movements to said movable jaw upon operation of said thumb operated device.

6. In a wrench, a fixed and a movable jaw, a pull device operatively connected with said movable jaw for imparting guided travel thereto, and having an exposed grasping portion, and thumb operated means normally effective to prevent movement of said movable jaw beyond a predetermined point in one direction and having its operating portion disposed substantially opposite to said grasping portion of the pull device.

7 In a wrench, a fixed and a movable jaw, a pull device operatively connected with said movable jaw for imparting guided travel thereto, and having an exposed grasping portion, a device normally effective to prevent movement of said movable jaw beyond a predetermined point in one direction, and a. thumb lever connected with said device and having its operating portion disposed substantially opposite to said grasping portion of the pull device whereby said lever may be depressed with the thumb while the exposed grasping portion is engaged with the forefinger of the same hand. I 8. In a wrench of the class described, a fixed and a movable jaw, a rotation feed member for adjusting said movable jaw, and a stem fast to said member and having an exposed operating portion for adjusting said movable jaw through said feed member either by rotation or reciprocation, and a slidable detent cooperating with said stem and normally disposed to prevent adjustment of said movable jaw by reciprocation while permitting adjustment thereof by rotation and operable to permit adjustment of said jaw by reciprocation.

9. A wrench comprising a shank, a movable and a fixed jaw, a device having a thumb operated portion, and normally disposed to prevent movement of said movable jaw beyond a predetermined point, and permitting such movement when actuated, and a device disposed opposite the thumb operated portion of said first named device for imparting ratcheting movements to said jaw after actuation of said thumb operated device.

10. In a wrench adapted to be operated in one hand, .a shank, a movable and a fixed jaw adapted to be adjusted relatively, a digital device operated at one side of said shank for imparting ratcheting movements to said movable jaw, and a digital device arranged opposite to said first-named device and operated at the other side of said shank for normally preventing operation of said firstna-med device.

11. In a wrench adapted to be operated in one hand, a shank, a movable and a fixed jaw adapted to be adjusted relatively, and a digital device operated at one side of the shank for imparting ratcheting movements to said movable jaw and a digital device operated at the opposite side of the shank and normally preventing operation of said first-named device, said digital devices being disposed in spannable relation to the digits of one hand for operation thereby.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LAROY S. STARRETT. Witnesses FRANK E. WING, ERNEST W. TAYLOR.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

